Arun Jaitley slams Rahul Gandhi`s `ideas` on 1984 riots

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on Friday came down heavily on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for saying that Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government "abetted and pushed" 2002 riots.

Jaitley`s reaction comes a day after Rahul in his first interview after a gap of 10 years, held BJP government responsible for the Gujarat riots. Rahul said: “The fact of the matter is that innocent people died in 1984 and innocent people dying is a horrible thing and should not happen. The difference between Gujarat and 1984 was that the government of Gujarat was involved in the riots."
The senior BJP leader today expressed his reactions to Rahul`s interview on his blog and questioned “Where did the Gandhi scion get this idea that in 1984 there was no participation of the State?”

Jaitley wrote: “In 1984, a slogan “Khoon ka Badla Khoon” started in the afternoon of 31st October 1984 at the AIIMS where Mrs. Gandhi’s body lay. Congress leaders were seen leading the mobs. Sikhs were massacred at thousands of places. No where did the police fire a single bullet to disperse mobs. Cases were not investigated. A Commission of Inquiry was constituted which came with a sham report. The judge heading the Commission was subsequently made a Congress Party’s Member of the Rajya Sabha. Justice evades the victims even now.”
Defending Modi, he said, “In Gujarat thousands of people were arrested. The badly over-powered police fired at several places. Almost 300 rioters were killed in police firing. Thousands of prosecutions were filed. Hundreds of people have been sentenced. The Chief Minister of the State Government personally went through several inquiries including the Supreme Court constituted SIT and no evidence was found against him.”

Criticising Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said that the Congress leader has nothing to offer for the country and said he seems to be “too confused to get into the specifics and therefore goes into the generalities.”

Raising the corruption issue, which has hit the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre hard, Jaitley said, “The Congress Party has tied up with a convicted leader in Bihar. Without Lalu Prasad Yadav, there is no RJD. Rahul Gandhi has looked the other way when it comes to the allegations against Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shri Vir Bhadra Singh. He pays lip sympathy to probity when former CM of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan is bailed out. He chooses to keep quiet on the 2G spectrum allocation and the coal blocks allocation. He believes that some legislations will resolve the menace of corruption.”

The BJP leader also hit out at Rahul for saying that he is "absolutely against the concept of dynasty.” Jaitley wrote, “Surely Mr. Gandhi you don’t expect India to believe you on that.”